With just six months to go until the London 2012 Games, Rio Tinto is celebrating Australia Day with the appointment of three Olympic ambassadors to share their sporting dreams across regional and remote mining communities in Australia.

Three time Olympic gold medallist and rower Drew Ginn, pole-vaulting sensation Steve Hooker and swimming golden girl Libby Trickett have all signed up to be part of Rio Tinto's team.

As much as their hectic training schedules will allow, the Olympic gold medallists will share their success stories through training blogs and personal visits to some Rio Tinto mining communities.

The trio said they were proud to be associated with a company that has contributed so much to Australia's development for the past 100 years.

Drew Ginn, who has won rowing gold in three Olympics and has his sights set on a fourth medal in London said that "I am looking forward to sharing my ideas about the power of teams and learning more about how the team at Rio Tinto gets results."

Steve Hooker, who was the first Australian field athlete to win gold in 60 years at the Beijing Olympics, said he was looking forward to talking to Rio Tinto mining employees about his number one priority safety.

Steve, who returns to high level competition this weekend said that "I'm excited about working with a company that also recognises that protecting the health and wellbeing of its people is a vital part of getting the job done."

Ms Libby Trickett who has won six Olympic medals in the pool, said she respected Rio Tinto's approach to being accountable for your own decisions. She added that "I have many people to thank for helping me reach my goals but when I get in the pool, I know I am solely responsible for my own performance."

Rio Tinto's Managing Director Australia Mr David Peever said that "We're thrilled to have Libby, Drew and Steve as Rio Tinto ambassadors who can share their dreams with our people working in cities and regional and remote areas. They embody our values of teamwork, respect, integrity and accountability and will inspire our 20,000 Australian employees to keep doing their best.”

“Australia Day is the perfect day to start getting behind our Olympic champions as we wish them all the best for the London 2012 Games.”


Rio Tinto is a partner of the Australian Olympic Team, and is the official provider of the metal being used to produce the 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals to be awarded during the London 2012 Games.